The Thing About Life
by Morbidmuch
Summary: The thing about life is, every little thing that happens determines what will happen next. If someone lives who should have died, things will not be the same. OC/Cedric
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Started this fic last summer, and found it recently. I'm not sure how often updates will be, I only have a handful of chapters written and being a senior in college means not a lot of time for things that aren't school work. But anyways, here it is.**

**Disclaimer: If you recognize it, I don't own it. **

**Chapter 1**

There was an unusual flurry of activities on King's Cross station that morning, but it seemed like no one really paid any attention to it. The people of London seemed to have accepted that people in strange clothing and with strange behaviour was part of their everyday life, which is why no one as much as batted an eyelash when a tabby cat suddenly came running down between platforms 9 and 10.

"Elliot, get back here!"

A young woman in her late teens came rushing after the cat, and caught it just before it was about to board a train to Cardiff. She pushed a piece of blonde hair from her face, and tightened her grip on the now sulking feline.

"Don't give me that look, you're lucky I don't stuff you in a carrier," she scolded, and the cat meowed.

"Kayla, how many times have I told you to keep a better hold of him?" An older woman, who shared her daughter's grey eyes, came up to them, pushing a trolley loaded with trunks in front of her.

"Sorry mum," Kayla smiled sheepishly.

"No matter, no matter." Cheryl Wood was a very put together woman, with a motherly charm about her that made her a favourite amongst her childrens friends. "You go first through the platform with Elliot, and I'll follow."

Kayla smiled, an action that lit up her face, and turned around to walk briskly towards the brick wall separating the two tracks. When one would expect her to just lean against the brick, she simply went through it. The steaming scarlet Hogwarts Express appeared before waited until her mother had gone through, and then they walked along the platform together.

Stopping every other yard to say hi to someone she knew, it took several minutes before Kayla Wood and her mother reached the luggage compartment, where the luggage was hauled in. Armed with only a small bag and the tabby cat in her arms, Kayla hugged her mother tightly.

"Please be careful, and don't forget to write," Cheryl urged her daughter, running her hands up and down her daughter's arms. She couldn't pretend that she wasn't worried. Too much had happened in the past year.

"I won't, I promise," Kayla smiled, and embraced her mother once more. "Hug dad and Ollie for me."

"Of course." Cheryl let her daughter go. She couldn't help but to feel some sort of significance to it, though she brushed it off. She felt the same way every year, seeing her children off at the train. It was easier now, with Oliver out of school because it meant one less goodbye. She watched as her daughter turned and went towards the cluster of students saying goodbye to their parents.

Kayla scanned the crowd, her height being an advantage, and couldn't help but to smile when she saw a familiar dark brown head of hair.

"Sonya!"

The shorter woman turned around, and smiled when she saw her best friend. "Kayla!" The two women embraced, and when they parted Kayla noticed the gleaming silver badge on her best friend's robes.

"Congratulations! Head Girl, your mom must be so proud."

Sonya laughed, her nose crinkling and her green eyes sparkling. "She was when I explained it's basically the same thing as in the muggle world." For Sonya, coming from a one parent home with her mum being a muggle, it was frustrating sometimes, because her mother didn't fully understand everything. Sonya's father, an Italian-born wizard, had been killed when she had just started Hogwarts.

A pale arm was slung over her shoulder, and the black haired boy it belonged to smirked at them. "Head Girl indeed."

"Zachary Chambers, you watch your mouth!" Sonya gasped, and elbowed her boyfriend in the stomach.

Kayla only laughed and stepped forward to hug her friend. "I presume things are as good with the two of you?"

"Same as ever," Zachary laughed as he hugged her back.

Right about then the train whistle blew, and the three friends all boarded the train. Kayla and Zachary went to find a compartment, while Sonya was required in the prefect carriage. Once they had found an empty compartment and closed the door, Kayla felt it was safe to let Elliot down from her arms. He stretched out his legs as she placed him on the seat next to her, and then promptly rolled into a little furball and fell asleep.

"How was your summer?" she asked, tearing her eyes from her cat to look at her friend sitting opposite her.

"Uneventful," he replied, toeing off his sneakers and finding a more comfortable position. "Mostly just hung out with Sonya, or Damon. How about you?"

"It was good. Oliver came to visit for a few weeks, and spent the entire time trying to convince me to try out for the Quidditch team this year."

Zachary laughed, remembering her brother's enthusiasm for all things Quidditch. "And did he succeed?"

Kayla shook her head, and reached out to run her hand through Elliot's fur. "Sorry, you'll have to manage without me."

"I have a feeling this is our year," he said, running a hand through his hair. "It bloody well has to be, otherwise I'm scared Roger will off himself."

The two friends continued their conversation, and it didn't take long for Sonya to come and join them. She sat down next to Zachary, and leaned against his shoulder.

"That was interesting."

"What do you mean?" Kayla asked, finishing of plaiting her hair, securing a rubber band at the end and letting the plait hang down her right shoulder.

"You'll never guess who made Head Boy?" Sonya sat up and pushed a strand of hair back from her forehead.

"Cedric Diggory?" Kayla asked, raising her eyebrows. When Sonya nodded, she sighed. There had been a lot of speculation of what actually happened to the two boys when Harry came back bleeding and crying, and Cedric stupefied, from the maze of the Triwizard Tournament. Not everyone believed Harry's claim of Voldemort's return, saying it was a cry for attention, among other things. Kayla honestly didn't know what to believe. She doubted it was attention related, on the contrary; Harry seemed to hate any attention being drawn upon himself. Which was understandable. "I can't say I'm surprised. He does appear to be perfect, does he not?"

"So it would seem," Zachary said through bites of his sandwich. "Cho certainly seems to think the sun shines out of his arse."

"Ladies and gentlemen, my boyfriend. Always so eloquent," Sonya said sarcastically, rolling her eyes.

"You've got to give him credit for his ability to speak and eat at the same time. Not many Ravenclaws can do that," Kayla chuckled. "But he does have a point. About Cho, I mean."

"I've always found her a bit odd, to be honest," Sonya agreed. "She's a sweet girl, don't get me wrong. I think it's the way she latched on to Cedric at the start of the Tournament last year. Doesn't sit right with me, is all I'm saying."

"Aw, now you're being unfair. I think she likes him for real." Kayla opened the package of sandwiches her mum made her, and took a bite. "Besides, don't you remember how it is to be young and in love?" She winked, and her brunette friend laughed.

"Do you? Honestly Kay, you lived like a bloody nun last year."

"I did not!" She defended herself with a laugh. "I went to the Yule Ball with Adrian Pucey, didn't I? And I can assure you, there was nothing nun-like about that evening."

"You tart," Zachary spoke up from where he now had positioned himself with his head in Sonya's lap. "Always pegged you for a Slytherin groupie, I did."

Kayla narrowed her eyes, though she knew her friend was only teasing. "Watch your tongue Chambers, or I'll hex it." She actually liked Adrian; he was a somewhat quiet boy who lacked the usual attitude displayed by most Slytherin students.

A few hours later, she left the compartment to use the loo, with the warning words of "No funny business" to her friends. She met other students in the corridor, among them fellow Ravenclaw Roger Davies, and the Weasley twins. On her way back, she nearly bumped into a tall figure wearing yellow and black robes.

"Sorry," she said in passing, and slid back into the compartment.

Cedric Diggory didn't have time for the words he was about to say; in less than two seconds she had gone back to her friends. So did he; entering the compartment that contained his closest friends, and Cho. His girlfriend. Matt and Benjamin, his best friends, were discussing girls (no surprise there). They talked about the girls in their year, and the possibility of dating any of them.

"What about Sonya Harris, from Ravenclaw?"

"Is she the one with the big?" Matt held his hands up in front of his chest, and Cedric snorted.

"That's real classy."

Beside him, Cho grabbed his hand. It was soft, and warm. Not clammy, just a pleasant heat.

"Is all fun and games, mate," Benjamin smiled, and then turned to Matt. "Yeah, that's the one."

"She's taken. Dating Zachary Chambers." Matt looked thoughtful for a second. "What about Kayla Wood? I mean, if the name is any indication..." As Matt and Benjamin laughed, Cedric was thinking. Kayla hadn't spared him so much as a second glance after bumping into him, which he found peculiar. Not that he was under the impression that he was someone you _should_ spare a second glance at, but because most of the students already had. And third glances, and fourth glances. All curious about what had really happened that June night when he and Harry Potter appeared in front of the maze. He tried, and not often enough successfully, to block the thoughts of that night.

"You two are absolutely disgusting, you know that right?" He was pulled out of his thoughts when Lori looked up from her book to address her housemates.

"We're only kidding, aren't we?" Benjamin said, nudging his friend, who was quick to agree. "Come on Lori, no harm done."

She scowled at him, and then went back to reading her book, a muggle romance novel from the looks of it. Out of all the Hufflepuff girls his year, Cedric liked Lori the best. She was straight forward but still sweet, and always told it like it was. They had been on one disastrous date in their fourth year, and decided quickly after they were better as friends.

The conversation in the compartment quickly turned to discussing this year's Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, and why in the name of Merlin their course book was called _Defensive Magical Theory_. Cedric wouldn't admit it, but he was worried. His father had said something to him before leaving the platform earlier that day, something he couldn't get his mind off. Things were changing; the Ministry of Magic was interfering with Hogwarts business in a way it never had before. Not wanting it to be discussed, he kept his musings to himself.

In a compartment not far from the one where Cedric sat, Zachary's eyes was being covered by Sonya's hands as Kayla changed into her uniform. Buttoning the last button on her shirt, the blonde called out to her friend to pull her hands away. The couple had changed (among other things) when she was in the bathroom, and with no more than thirty minutes left until reaching Hogsmeade, Kayla decided to change.

"I'm never going to learn how to do this properly," she sighed as Sonya fixed her blue and bronze striped necktie. Once it was in place, she pulled on the thin black sweater, and rolled up the sleeves.

"You'll learn. If not, I don't doubt there's a charm for doing it."

Kayla smirked. "The trick will be not strangling yourself, though." Sitting down again, she ran her fingers through Elliot's fur. He'd been sleeping nearly the entire trip, lazy as only a feline can be, but now he needed to be put in a carrier. He really hated it. "Wake up," she cooed, and lifted the cat into her lap. His body was practically limp, and he looked at her through bleary green eyes. Quickly, Sonya held up the carrier, and before you could say 'Quidditch', Kayla had stuffed the cat into it and closed the hatch. Elliot hissed at her. "Sorry El, but you know you have to."

The train was slowing down, and the trio made sure they hadn't forgotten something under the seats. They were even more thorough ever since Zachary forgot his bag under his seat the previous year, and went almost a week before he noticed it was missing. When the train stopped, they joined the other students in the corridor, and Kayla took a deep breath. She loved the smell of night air. When they came out on the platform, the trio walked quickly towards the horse-less carriages to get out of the rain that had started pouring down not an hour ago.

"Excuse me, is there any seats left?" A female voice with an Irish accent spoke up just as they were stepping into the carriages, and Kayla looked back to see Lori from Hufflepuff stand there.

"Lori, hi! Of course, just hop in."

As Kayla sat down, Lori stepped up into the carriage, pushing her wet strawberry blonde hair from her face. Following her was Cedric Diggory, him too stroking his wet hair from his face.

"How was your summer?" Sonya asked the two Hufflepuffs politely, and the ride up to Hogwarts was spent talking about their summer. Kayla had them all laughing with a very spot on impersonation of her brother, trying to convince her to join the Quidditch team.

"You're not joining then?" Cedric said between laughs, and Kayla shook her head.

"Nah. Short of Roger Davies going down on his knees and begging me because they don't have another Keeper, I'm gonna sit it out this year. You're still Captain I presume?"

Cedric nodded. "Yeah, I am. Hopefully we get a good team this year."

"Congratulations on making Head Boy, by the way. Though I can't say any of us was surprised," Zacharias said, and the others chimed in as well. Two pink spots appeared high on Cedric's cheeks as he thanked them.

It wasn't long until the carriages stopped, and Kayla smiled to herself. Finally back at Hogwarts.

**Like it? Loathe it? Love it? Let me know. **


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Yeah, it's been a while. Sorry about that. I don't know how long it will take until the next update either, because I work a lot which means I don't have a lot of time to write. But I'll update when I can. Hope you like!**

Disclaimer: If you recognise it, I don't own it.

* * *

**Chapter 2**

The entrance hall was packed with students, and the flaming torches on the walls cast a warm glow over them and the stone walls. Going into the Great Hall, Kayla saw a lot of friends and quickly they were engaged in talks about the summer. Amber James and Emily Thomas, both Ravenclaw, had been on vacation to New York together where they met a man who claimed to be Dracula. Gryffindor John Tait had accidentally splinched himself while Apparating, and was now missing a toe. Susan Munroe, also Gryffindor, had chopped of eight inches of hair over the summer, and smiled when Sonya complimented her on her new hairstyle.

The trio stopped at the Ravenclaw table and found seats among the other 7th years. More summer discussions took place, and Kayla looked over at Sonya when the latter elbowed her in the stomach.

"Do you think that's the new Defence teacher?"

Kayla looked in the same direction as her friend and saw a woman at the high table she didn't recognise, a short and squat woman with mousy hair and an appearance that resembled a toad.

"I hope not, she looks more ill-suited for the job than Lockhart did. I might even prefer Snape as a teacher," Kayla answered, and Sonya snorted.

Minutes later, the doors opened and Professor McGonagall entered with a group of wide eyed first years behind her. They were lead to the front of the Hall, and McGonagall placed the worn Sorting Hat on the stool. It started to sing, and as the song went on, the frown on Kayla's face deepened. She looked to her best friend, who wore a similar expression. Once the song was done, they clapped their hands along with everyone else, though whispers and mumbled words laced the clapping.

"What do you reckon all that was about?" Leah Graham, a stunning girl with skin as dark as Sonya's hair, asked.

"I've certainly never gotten advice from a hat before," Zachary quipped in, and Kayla could only agree.

McGonagall, who wanted the sorting to begin, gave the students still whispering a scorching look, and when they quieted down she looked down at the parchment in her hands, and read the first name.

"Abercrombie, Euan!"

For every student placed in Ravenclaw, Kayla clapped and cheered, though the sorting hat's words were still in the back of her mind. When the last student had been placed (Zeller, Rose to Hufflepuff) Dumbledore stood up to welcome them.

"To our newcomers," said Dumbledore in a ringing voice, stretching his hands wide with a beaming smile on his lips, "welcome! To our old hands, welcome back! There is a time for speech-making, and this is not it. Tuck in!"

At once, every available food you could possibly imagine appeared on the tables. Kayla loaded her plate full; she was starving after not eating more than sandwiches on the train a couple of hours ago. For the first few minutes not much talking went on between the 7th year students, they were all busy eating.

"I swear, this is the best time of year," Damon Clark said as he shoved food into his mouth. "No food can match this, ever."

"True. Not even your mum's food, Kayla," Zachary replied, and Kayla held up her fist, which he bumped.

"Agreed," she said through bites of steak and mashed potatoes. Looking up when she once again felt her best friend's elbow in her ribs, she swallowed her food before speaking. "What's with the elbow? It actually hurts, you're aware of that right? You've got a wicked sharp elbow."

"Adrian Pucey is looking at you," Sonya said, her voice low so the others wouldn't hear hear.

Kayla averted her gaze to right above Damon's shoulder and found that indeed, Adrian Pucey, Chaser on the Slytherin Quidditch team, was looking at her. When their eyes met he smiled, a warm smile that revealed a dimple in his left cheek. He raised his hand and gave a small wave. Kayla smiled and waved back, and then continued on with her eating. He was good-looking, there was no doubt about that, and nice too.

"I honestly don't know what to do with you," Sonya sighed, shaking her head at her best friend's utter disinterest in people of the opposite sex.

"Ship me off to slaughter like a lamb," Kayla answered with a bright smile and then went back to her food.

"Zachary tells me you're not trying out for the Quidditch team. How come?" Roger Davies, captain and chaser on the Ravenclaw Quidditch team, spoke up.

"Why is everyone so obsessed with me being on the team?" Kayla looked at her friends, who all suddenly became very interested in their food.

"Because you're bloody good, that's why. I thought you liked Quidditch?" Roger insisted, his food forgotten.

"I do!" Kayla defended herself. "As much as one must like Quidditch when one is related to Oliver Wood. I just feel I need to focus on my studies. I need to get at least an 'Exceeds Expectations' on my Potions N.E.W.T. or else my dad will have my head."

Once everybody was full on both food and dessert, all the plates and half empty trays disappeared. Dumbledore stood once again. He did his normal back to school speech; the forbidden forest, Filch, and also the welcoming of two new professors. Kayla hadn't even became aware of the fact that Hagrid wasn't there, so she was surprised when Dumbledore welcomed back Professor Grubbly-Plank as the teacher in care of magical creatures. Also, he introduced the short toad-like woman as Professor Umbridge, who was indeed their new Defence Against the Dark Arts professor. Kayla and Sonya exchanged a look. When they looked back at Dumbledore they realised that he had stopped speaking, and was instead looking at the new teacher. Kayla saw that Umbridge was standing up, which was difficult to see because she was as short standing up as sitting down, and the Great Hall suddenly went to silent you could hear a pin drop. No new teacher had ever interrupted Dumbledore before.

Dumbledore sat down, and Umbridge stepped up with her hands clasped in front of her. She looked out over the students with what Kayla thought was supposed to be a warm smile.

"Thank you, Headmaster, for those kind words of welcome. And how lovely to see all your bright happy faces smiling up at me."

Meeting Zachary's eyes, Kayla had to suppress a laugh when he grimaced.

"I'm sure we're all going to be very good friends. The Ministry of Magic has always considered the education of young witches and wizard of vital importance. Although each Headmaster has brought something new to this historic school. Progress for the sake of progress must be discouraged. Let us preserve what must be preserved, perfect what can be perfected and prune practices that ought to be prohibited."

She went on, and Kayla felt her focus slipping away. Instead she twirled a piece of hair around her fingers. Again, and again, and again. Next to her, Sonya and Zachary were holding hands underneath the table. A glance towards the Slytherin table revealed that Adrian was paying about as much attention as she was, and when their eyes met for the second time that evening she gave a small smile. Looking back at the Hufflepuff table, she saw Lori and Cedric discreetly playing thumb-wars, their hands covered by the table whilst still appearing to be listening, no doubt due to the shiny Head Boy badge on Cedric's robes. At the Gryffindor table Fred and George Weasley was whispering quietly to each other, and from experience Kayla figured they weren't saying nice things. The silence that usually filled the Great Hall when Dumbledore spoke was broken, the students were now giggling and whispering to their friends. Umbridge didn't seemed dazed by this at all, even though as far as Kayla could see, there were very few who appeared to be listening.

Umbridge went to sit down, and Dumbledore started clapping. A few students began, but no one had really realised that the speech was finished and didn't have the time to start before Dumbledore stood up again.

"Thank you Professor Umbridge, that really was most illuminating," Dumbledore spoke. "As I was saying, Quidditch try outs will be held..."

"Illuminating? That was rubbish!" Sonya whispered feverishly, but Kayla shushed her. Was it her imagination, or was Umbridge looking at them?

"She certainly knows how to bore a crowd," Damon said lowly, and several students sitting nearly started to giggle.

"What do you suppose she means, though?" Roger interjected.

"I think," Kayla, who now had thought about the parts of the speech she **had** been paying attention for, spoke, "she means that the Ministry of Magic will have a saying in what goes on about Hogwarts. I recognize her now; she works for Fudge. I saw her this summer when I went with dad to the Ministry."

"Like we haven't enough to worry about this year," Emily muttered as she gathered her auburn hair in a ponytail.

Movement among the students alerted the group of friends that Dumbledore had excused them all, and it was time to go to bed. Kayla, Sonya and Zachary lingered to let the first years go ahead.

"They're so small. Were we really that small?" Kayla mused as the trio followed the other Ravenclaw students up the marble stairs.

"I know I was," Sonya answered and hopped over the invisible step.

Zachary nudged her arm. "You still are."

Talking and laughing on their way up, they became more and more out of breath the higher they got. In the lead, they heard the newly appointed prefects Padma Patil and Anthony Goldstein tell the first-years about Ravenclaw's history.

"How long do you reckon it'll take for us to get back in shape? Last year it was a month. Think we can shave it down to two weeks?" Sonya panted with a smile, looking at her best friend.

"I'm game," Kayla agreed.

Finally the cluster of students in front of them stopped, causing them to halt in the middle of the winding stairs. Someone, presumably Padma or Anthony, spoke the right answer to the riddle asked by the bronze eagle shaped knocker, because it didn't take long before the students started to move again. Once Kayla was inside the common room, she suddenly felt like she was home.

The common room almost made you feel like you were under the bare night sky; the domed ceiling was painted with stars. The wide, circular, airy room was very soothing, and Kayla spent more time there than anywhere else in the castle. Arched windows provided during the daytime a spectacular view of the surrounding mountains, with sills so deep you could sit in them. Opposite the entrance door was the a door that lead up to the dormitories, and beside it a plinth on which stood a life-size statue in white marble of Rowena Ravenclaw.

All of the first years, and a good portion of the rest of Ravenclaw house, went up to their dormitories, but the trio stayed in the common room.

Yawning, Kayla popped down on the couch, on her back and looking up at the stars in the ceiling. A soft meow was heard, and then Elliot jumped up on her stomach. She raised a hand to pet him, and he started purring while pressing his head closer to her hand. The friends made some small talk, but it became soon evident that they were all too tired to carry on any stimulating conversation. Kayla gathered Elliot in her arms, and went towards the dormitories. Just inside the door, at the base of the stairs, was the room acquitted to the Head Girl, and there Sonya took her leave. Kayla and Zachary continued up one flight of stairs, where the seventh year dorms were. Saying goodnight, Zachary went left and Kayla went right through the door labelled 'Seventh year'.

The other three girls in that year was already in bed, so Kayla was extra quiet as to not disturb them. Elliot was put down on her bed while she went to the bathroom to clean up. Once in her pyjamas, she crawled under the downy covers and closed her eyes. Elliot occupied the space behind her knees, and his purring could be heard in the otherwise silent room. Before she could think about falling asleep, she did.

**Like it? Loathe it? Love it? Let me know. **


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